A no-cost extension may be needed if your project activities have not been completed by the project end date, and you still have money in the project account. Why might this happen? Agricultural research is subject to the same misfortunes that befall farms – hurricanes wipe out crops, drought prevents a cover crop from growing, farms animals get killed by wildlife. Because such things are beyond your control, you may find you need another season beyond your original project end date in order to complete your project.
No-cost extensions may also be requested for model state plans through the Professional Development Program.
A no-cost extension can be requested for a minimum of 6 months to a maximum of 12 months. We do not fulfill a no-cost extension for longer than 12 months. If after the 12 month period, you still need more time, an additional extension can be requested. Project PIs must be up-to-date on project reports to qualify for a second no-cost extension. No-cost extensions cannot be submitted any sooner than 90 days from the ending date of the grant. Note that grant projects funded for 3 years are only eligible for a 6-month no-cost extension due to SARE's timeline of managing its USDA Cooperative Agreement.
No-cost extensions must be completed 12 months before SSARE’s main Cooperative Agreement expires. SSARE’s main Cooperative Agreement is the chunk of funding Congress allots to SARE every five years. So even though your project is funded for one or two years, it falls somewhere within a five-year cooperative agreement between SSARE and USDA. When that five-year agreement comes to an end, the funds allotted for that five years are stopped, including the funds for your project. If you apply for a no-cost extension to complete work on your project beyond its original end date, the extension cannot go beyond the start of the last year of the main Cooperative Agreement that contained its funding. That last 12 months of the main Cooperative Agreement will be used for your final report and other paperwork needed to close out the project.
To apply for a no-cost extension:
First determine your eligibility based on the main Cooperative Agreement ending date. Contact Tydaisha White and provide your project subaward number.
If eligible for a no-cost extension, provide a brief letter or email with the following content:
- Justify and explain the project-related circumstances that led to the need for a no-cost extension. “Use of remaining funds” is not an allowable justification. Using a no-cost extension, all or in part, to write and complete required project reports is not allowed.
- Specify the amount of the time the extension request is for. Include the new ending date being requested. Remember that your project activities must finish before the main Cooperative Agreement ends.
- All requests must include your SARE subaward account number or project number.
- Notify the administrative and financial contacts at your university or organization to prevent submission of final documents to closeout a subaward you wish to extend. Closeout proceedings cannot be stopped once initiated.
- Address your request to the appropriate SSARE staff for your grant type;
- cc Tydaisha White on all no-cost extension requests.
Once the request has been received and approved, processing begins at the SSARE office and then forwarded to the UGA Sponsored Projects unit in Athens. A formal modification to the award will be issued by Sponsored Projects at UGA. This modification will be emailed to the PI’s institution/organization/agency administrative contact on file. Counter signature from the PI’s institution/organization/agency is not required for no-cost extensions.
It may take up to 8 weeks for no-cost extensions to be processed once approved. If a no-cost extension has been requested and approved, an annual report is required covering research activities during the year that the project would have initially ended.